Heartbeats
by wwarriorgirl
Summary: Clark thinks his life is perfect; a beautiful wife, five wonderful children, a wonderful job...but appearances aren't always a reality, and it takes his middle daughter running away for him to see the truth behind the veneer of perfection.
1. Chapter 1

"I'll go check on the kids, you lock up?" Lois asked as she opened the front door.

"Yeah, I'll lock up."

"Don't take long, Mr. 10 time Kerth winner." Lois said seductively and headed up the stairs wielding a wicked smile. Clark returned the smile, happy that his life was so full to overflowing with goodness, friends, family, children and all of the good things this life had to offer.

He hurried through the rituals of locking the house, it was more of a formality at the Kent home rather than a necessity, admired the cleanliness of the kitchen, his children had managed to do their chores and do them with effectiveness he noted, and he headed up the stairs to join his absolutely stunning wife. As he jogged up the stairs he tuned into his super hearing, checking on his children, listening for their ever present heartbeats.

His oldest, the twins, were both in their rooms, hearts beating at their fierce Kryptonian pace. He heard his youngest, another set of twins-that was when Lois had declared that she would not be having any more children (Dr. Klein had been more than just a little wrong about their ability to have children)—beating at their rapid human Kryptonia hybrid pace. And then he listened closely for the one heart in the middle. The one that beat at human pace, the one that sometimes got left out of the action-something he had Lois had discussed on the way home that night-and he heard nothing. That steady beat wasn't there. His body tingled with panic as he focused his hearing and listened, and listened so hard that he heard two cats yoweling two miles away, but he did not hear the beat of his middle daughter's heart. He rushed to the door and opened it. Lights were off, and there appeared to be something in the bed. He quickly pulled the covers away, expecting the worst, and found the cats, that were always dutifully by her side, sleeping peacefully in Mary's bed.

"Lois!" He yelled.

CKCKCKCKCKCKCKC

"You be careful young lady." The bus driver said as he let Mary off in Smallville.

"I will. Thank you sir." Mary said as she got off the bus. She knew her way around Smallville, she spent the last several summers there. She always felt more comfortable in Smallville, always felt like she belonged there. In the last couple of years she had felt like the farm was more of her home than her own home was. And after what happened last night, she definitely knew she didn't belong in the two story house on the outskirts of Metropolis, so she began her journey to the Kent farm one painful step at a time.

The sun was just coming over the corn when she got to the familiar house. The door opened before she even raised her hand to knock. Martha Kent, with tears streaming down her face pulled the young teenager to her and hugged her with a ferocity that was usually reserved for those who had been lost, or those that were thought to be dead.

"We were so worried. Your dad called. He and your mom were so scared. When he didn't find you in your bed…"

That was when Mary broke down. "Please don't make me go back there." She said through her tears. "Please Grammy, please don't make me go." Martha hugged her granddaughter tighter.

"Shhhh." Jonathan appeared behind Martha.

"Mary!" he said and joined the hug. "We were so worried about you."

"Come on sweetie let's go inside. Are you hungry?" Martha asked trying to get herself under control.

"I'll go call Lois and Clark."

"Please Grandpa, don't let them come and get me." Mary pleaded

"What happened?" Martha asked as she helped Mary with her book bag.

"I just don't fit." Mary said as she wiped her almond eyes. Martha pushed black hair from her granddaughter's face and was once again amazed at how much Mary looked like her father. Dark complexion, black hair, almond eyes that had made more than one person ask Martha if she had adopted Clark from China or Vietnam.

"What do you mean you don't fit sweetie?" Martha began busying herself making breakfast while Jonathan snuck into the other room to call his son to let him know that his daughter was here safe and sound and not to worry.

Mary shrugged and put her head on the kitchen table. "Mary Katherine that isn't an answer, your mom and dad taught you better than that." She sat up, pushed long bangs out of her eyes, making her look more vulnerable than a 14 year old girl should.

"I'm just not important enough. Mom and Dad forget that I'm there."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is." Mary nodded, and drew her knees up on the chair and rested her chin on her knees. "I've asked mom every week for the last four weeks if she would go shopping with me. I don't want anything. I don't even want her to buy me lunch, or a smoothie or the other things that the other girl's mom's do for them, I just want to spend a day with her. She spends time with Emily all of the time. And when she isn't with Emily she's with the younger ones, but there just isn't time for me." She took a deep breath and continued. "And when I was little, Dad used to put me on his back and he'd take me flying." Martha turned long enough to see the broken hearted girl start to cry again. Her voice began to falter as she continued. "We'd go to the mountains and we'd go hiking together, because mom and the others don't like that outdoors stuff. But I love spending time outside with him, and learning about the animals and the plants." She sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve. "Maybe that's why I like it so much here." She hugged her knees closer. "But now that the twins can fly, he doesn't take me anymore. He goes with the twins and teaches them how to fly. I'm not invited." The tears came faster and fiercer.

"Sweetheart, have you told him that?"

"I tried. It came out wrong. I'm not always very good with my words."

"That's not a very good reason to run away and make your parents worry. Your mom was crying. Your mom never cries."

"I didn't think they'd worry."

"Now, you stop this self-pitying nonsense. Your parents love you. Love you more than anything in the world. And we're going to get some food into you, and your father is going to come and pick you up. You made a very very poor choice young lady, and you should be ashamed." Martha came around and put a plate in front of Mary, and before she could go back to the stove she saw Mary's shoes. They had sets of burns all over the heels.

"What happened to your shoes?" Martha asked slowly as she sat in front of Mary. Her feet quickly left the chair and she hid them.

"Nothing." She said as she took a bite of bacon.

"Don't lie." Mary put down the piece of bacon and looked at her grandmother.

"I don't want to tell you."

"Let me see your feet young lady."

"No. Please no Grammy."

"Let me see your feet." Mary slowly pulled a foot up on the chair and untied the laces, and pulled the sock away, dried blood sticking to the wounds making the sock extraction that much more difficult and painful.

Martha's eyes widened. "Are…Are these burn marks?" Mary looked away.

Martha grabbed her granddaughter's chin and forced her to look at her. "Are these burn marks?"

"Yes." She said softly.

"Who hurt you?" Martha asked. Mary didn't answer. "Do I have to tell your father that someone is hurting you?" Mary looked up quickly and shook her head.

"No! No! You can't tell him. It's no big deal." She reached for her sock, Martha took it away.

"No. Your feet are in horrible shape. You can not put these dirty, bloody socks back on. What happened?" Martha asked firmly.

"We have chores." Mary started slowly after realizing that she wasn't going to get away from this line of questioning. "All five of us have chores." She licked her lips. "And when mom and dad leave, Tate and Emily make me do their chores."

"Sweetie they can't make you do their cho-" Martha stopped mid-sentence.

"They can make me do their chores. And this time, I wasn't doing them quickly enough so they…" She wiped her eyes and looked back at her grandma. "they burnt my feet. And they have dad's powers, so, it isn't like I can stop them. I'm just human." Martha put a hand to her mouth.

"That's why I don't fit there Grammy. Please don't make me go back." Martha reached over and hugged her granddaughter.


	2. Chapter 2

Mary cried into her grandmother's arms. Martha kissed the top of her head and looked up at her husband who was standing in the doorway. This had been their fear when Clark was growing up. They feared that he would grow up arrogant and use his powers to get things he wanted, and hurt people in his way. But, he turned out so different, so humble, so willing to help others, so kind, and so caring. They had counted their blessings. And when Clark and Lois began having children of their own, those fears that they had back when Clark was growing up never surfaced, it never occurred to them with Clark and Lois raising them that any of their grandchildren would use their powers for personal gain.

"Come on sweetie, let's go upstairs and wash your feet, and put some medicine on them." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and nodded and allowed herself to be led up the stairs.

Just as Mary and Martha disappeared up the stairs the boom that occurred when 'Superman' arrived rattled the windows and Lois burst through the door.

"She's here?" She asked voice high with panic, her eyes wide and swollen. It was obvious she had cried all night. Clark, came inside as he was putting his glasses back on. He put a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"She is." Jonathan responded. Lois was about to ask where when she heard the water turn on upstairs and she took off in the direction of the stairs case. Clark tuned into his super hearing and heard his daughter's steady heartbeat and that panic and fear that he had his muscles tight finally eased, and he sagged.

"Clark, son, you better sit down."

"She's okay. She's okay." Clark whispered. "I was so scared. She wasn't home. Her heartbeat wasn't there." Jonathan steered his son to a chair and gently guided him to sit down. Jonathan took a seat in front of his son. "Why did she come here? Did she say?"

"She did. Clark, it's going to be hard for you to hear. You and Lois should hear about it toget-"

"CLARK!" Lois's shriek could have been heard loud and clear even if you didn't have super hearing, super hearing that was tuned in that direction. He hadn't want to let go of the sound of their daughter's heartbeat, the heartbeat that let him know she was safe, that she was alive, that she wasn't dead in a ditch somewhere, let him know that he hadn't failed as a father, hadn't failed as a man who had dedicated his life to protecting the lives of others.

He was up the stairs and standing outside of the bathroom door before the echo of Lois's shriek had stopped resounding in the small bathroom.

"Lois? Mom? Mary Katherine? Are you okay?"

Martha opened the door, and her face looked grave and sad. He looked around his mother to see his daughter sitting on the edge of the bathtub, her foot in her mother's hands that was perched on the edge of the toilet.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Mary looked away, and Lois turned to face her husband, her protector, the father of her children. Tears were streaming down her face. "Look at what Tate and Emily did." She whispered. Clark took two steps forward and knelt down next to his daughter. And there they were. There were the burn marks that were obviously made from the eyes of a super charged Kryptonian. The implication rocked Clark so hard that he fell on the floor. He ran a hand through his hair.

"Oh my God."

"Don't be mad Daddy." Mary finally said. Clark gently took his daughter's foot away from Lois and examined the burn marks.

"They did this last night." He said. Mary nodded and tears that she thought she had exhausted started coming down again. She wiped at them with the backs of her sleeves.

"Which one of them did it?"

"I think both of them. They were both laughing."

"They were laughing." Lois asked. Mary nodded.

"Yeah, every time I jumped and yelled they laughed more and more. I couldn't get away from them. I…" she shrugged.

Lois put a hand to her mouth, trying to keep her daughter from seeing her lip wobble. Lois looked at Clark, horror and grief in her soft brown eyes.

"Have they done this sort of thing before?" Clark asked slowly and quietly. Mary didn't reply, just hiccupped and tried to get her breathing back under control. "Mary." Clark tried again gently. "Have they done this before?"

She shook her head. "This is the first time they have burnt me."

"Have they done anything else with their powers to you before?" Mary wiped at her eyes. And after looking at her dad for a long moment. She unzipped her hoodie and pushed it off of her left arm, and there was a bruise, a couple actually, that were in various stages of healing. Lois stood and turned away from her daughter and the tears fell in earnest.

"Mommy, don't cry. I'm okay." Mary tried.

Lois turned to her daughter, the one that tended to get left behind because she didn't have an ounce of her father's strength, wasn't as inquisitive, or as active in dance and sports as the younger ones, the daughter who was quiet, the daughter who they never had to worry about in school because she always pulled in good grades, and she was trying to comfort her. She was trying to make Lois feel better about her being hurt by her siblings, hurt in ways that most siblings never dreamed of. She knelt down beside her daughter.

"I know you are okay. I know you are. I'm so sorry that they did this to you."

"Why didn't you tell us sweetie?" Clark asked softly.

Mary shrugged. "I don't know."

"This isn't the time to lie." Lois said. "Answer your father's question."

"They said they'd hurt me more." She bit her lip and then added. "They said that you wouldn't believe me." Lois grabbed her daughter and hugged and kissed her. Clark joined the hug for all of the world feeling like he was trying to keep his family from falling apart.


End file.
